The Mountain: An Event Group Thriller (75 page)
Read The Mountain: An Event Group Thriller Online
Authors: David L. Golemon
Tags: #United States, #Military, #Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #War & Military, #Action & Adventure, #Thriller & Suspense, #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Adventure, #Thriller, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Suspense, #Crime, #War, #Mystery
“What became of him?” Jack actually needed to know.
Niles smiled as he faced the army major. “Jack, let me ask you this. Your family is steeped in military history, is it not?”
“Yes, mostly on my father’s side.”
“Yes, it’s all in your file, with the exception of your mother’s side of the family.”
“That’s because the last person to serve in the military was my mother’s father in World War II. My mother was a hippie.” Jack smiled. “My father, the polar opposite.”
Niles smiled as he learned a little more about the man to whom he wished to turn over the Group’s security. He waited for Collins to continue.
“There has always been a one-sidedness to our shared military history. On my mom’s side we have virtually all pacifists, not a soldier mentality among them.”
“Say, their priorities lie in other areas of endeavor?”
“To say the least, yes.”
“What is your mother’s maiden name, Major?”
Collins laughed as he turned away from Compton. “My mother always says she was teased about her last name and was happy when she took the married name of Collins.” He turned back to face Niles. “It was Pennypacker.”
Niles smiled as he saw Jack relax.
“Strange how genetics works its miracles, isn’t it?”
“I’m not following you, Mr. Director.”
“Your talent at soldiering. You assume it came from your father’s side, when it actually stemmed from your mother’s family.”
“Excuse me?” Collins said, getting that special feeling when you know a punch to the chin is headed your way.
Niles opened the file he had carried into the vault and then smiled again.
“Here is the birth certificate for one Harold R. Pennypacker, born in 1871 to a Mr. and Mrs. John H. Pennypacker of San Bernardino County, California. Mr. Pennypacker’s wife’s name was Claire.”
Jack felt his jaw drop open. “John Henry Pennypacker?”
“He’s your great-great-grandfather, Jack.” Niles cleared his throat. “The name he hated, just as your own mother did a hundred years later. John Henry, you see, ended up bringing water to the desert with his official office of county engineer. He was never recognized for who he really was. What he actually did for the nation.”
Collins was stunned. He had heard of the engineer who brought water to the desert of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, but that was all he thought the man was.
“John Henry Thomas died in 1919 of a heart attack. He was preceded in death by Claire three years earlier. Both never spoke about their mission to Ararat or the men who had accompanied them to that mountain.” Niles watched as the dawning of understanding wove its way across Jack’s face. “We have known about you for years, Major, and have spent a lot of time following your career just out of pure curiosity. The subject of John Henry Thomas has occupied Garrison Lee’s thoughts for sixty-plus years. When he heard you were to face the Senate hearings on mission failures in Afghanistan, the senator moved heaven and earth to save you. That’s why you’re here, Major. We need you, just as Lincoln needed John Henry many, many years ago.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Jack said as he turned away from Niles.
“Say you’ll stay, Major. My people need protection, and according to your records, you’re that man. Hell, according to your family history, you’re that man. The Event Group needs Jack Collins, the great-great-grandson of John Henry Thomas. It’s perfect and it’s deserved. Come home, Jack.”
Niles stood from his chair and then slapped Collins lightly on the arm with the Event Group numbered file. He smiled sadly and then left the vault.
Jack looked at the file and then to the journal meticulously kept by his distant relative. Then his gaze rose to the massive presence of the Ark and for the first time he felt he was a part of something. He slapped the folder into the palm of his hand and then retrieved the journal. He stepped up to the damaged and broken bow of Noah’s creation and placed a hand upon the petrified surface. He closed his eyes as if he could speak to it, or maybe it was John Henry he wanted to feel. He looked up and smiled at the prize that had been delivered to the nation, only to fall prey to vicious politics.
Major Jack Collins smiled one last time as he removed his hand from the cursed and ancient Ark. He backed out of the vault and then made his way to his quarters on level seven.
* * *
The next morning, Jack had risen to eat and was on his way to report to Niles Compton when he was stopped by the diminutive geologist, specialist fifth class, Sarah McIntire, who greeted him with her ever-present smile. The young specialist seemed to be putting the mission to Chato’s Crawl, Arizona behind her, as well as the loss of her best friend, Lisa Willing, or she was trouper enough to allow it safe storage as soldiers usually do.
“And why are you so spry this morning, Specialist?” Jack asked as she skipped for a moment and then realized Jack was still an officer. She settled in to walk beside him.
“Oh, Pete Golding asked if I wanted to observe our KH-11 satellite, Boris and Natasha, as they refuel and start her back up again.”
“That’s where I’m headed.”
“Later I am getting on a plane with Mr. Everett for our little foray to Okinawa. It seems we have a date with a possible Chinese junk from the Khan Dynasty.”
“Sounds thrilling,” Jack said as he relaxed for the first time inside of Department 5656.
“So, tell me, Major, are you accepting Senator Lee and Director Compton’s offer of gainful employment? I mean, if the scenario in Chato’s Crawl bored you, I’m sure we can come up with something that won’t. Possibly when you least expect it,” Sarah said as she held the computer center’s door open for him. He nodded his thanks and then before entering the center leaned over.
“I’ll stay as long as you promise me one thing.”
“Name it, Major.”
“Never die on me, Specialist. I don’t take that very well.”
“Ah, we never die here, Major, we only join the collection.”
* * *
Jack Collins, descendant of the man who brought back Noah’s Ark, had made his decision to accept the position offered him by Lee and Compton.
The major figured it would be far safer than a front-line military unit. After all, how dangerous could looking for ancient artifacts truly be? He entered the computer center to the cheers of the technicians as the satellite known as Boris and Natasha flared to life a hundred and seventy-five miles above the Earth.
As Jack vanished behind the electronically tinted glass center, the dark shadows inside the deep corridors of the Event Group complex underneath the desert sands of Nellis Air Force Base were constantly held at bay by the bright fluorescent lighting that was always aglow inside Department 5656.
Some silly curses you just couldn’t ignore.
DAVID L. GOLEMON
grew up in Chino, California. He raised three great children and now makes his home in New York.
Overlord
is the ninth novel in his Event Group Series. Visit David online at
www.EventGroupsFiles.com
. You can sign up for email updates
here
.
ALSO BY
DAVID L. GOLEMON
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Contents
Part 1: Ghosts of Days Gone By
Part 2: Lost Souls of the Potomac
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
THE MOUNTAIN.
Copyright © 2015 by David L. Golemon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover photographs © Roberto Pastrovicchio and David Baker / Arcangel
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Golemon, David Lynn
The mountain: an Event Group thriller / David L. Golemon. — First edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-250-05763-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-6142-8 (e-book)
1. Event Group (Imaginary organization)—Fiction. 2. Secret societies—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.
O
4555
M
68 2015
813'.6—dc23
2015015554
e-ISBN 9781466861428
First Edition: August 2015
Table of Contents
Part 1: Ghosts of Days Gone By
Chapter 1
Part 2: Lost Souls of the Potomac
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13